Spokesman cites upcoming U.K. election, not nerves, as the issue

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LONDON — Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has postponed her first solo royal engagement, Prince Charles’ office announced.

Camilla, who married Prince Charles on April 9, had planned to visit a hospital in southern England on April 25, but the trip has been put back until sometime after the May 5 national election, a spokesman for Clarence House said late Saturday.

The spokesman denied that Camilla was facing nerves, as some media reports have suggested.

He said it would be “insensitive” for a senior member of the royal family to visit a hospital before the election, in which the running of Britain’s health service is a major issue.

“The suggestion that in some way she has some kind of nerves is absolutely 100 percent completely wrong,” the spokesman said. “Going to a hospital when health is one of the key election issues was considered inappropriate during the election period.”

Camilla, a patron of the National Osteoporosis Society, had planned to visit Southampton General Hospital on England’s southern coast. Charles’ office said a new date for the visit has not been set.

Charles and Camilla married on April 9 in Windsor. They carried out their first royal engagement as a married couple by opening a play park Thursday in Scotland, where they were spending their honeymoon.